Sony announces $499 Blu ray players

[Buckeyefan 1]

This really sweatens the deal for Blu ray.

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/7939.html
Sony slashes Blu-ray player price - infoSync World

The PS3 is no longer one of the cheapest Blu-ray players you can buy now that Sony has dropped the price of its BDP-S300.

Though the war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD is far from over, Sony is sweetening up the Blu-ray side by offering a more affordable player. The company's BDP-S300 is now available for $500, down from $600. Prior to the price break, Sony's Playstation 3 gaming consoles were accepted as some of the least expensive Blu-ray players at $600.

The BDP-S300 offers up high-definition video playback at a resolution of 1920 by 1080p with an HDMI connection. The Blu-ray player can upscale most standard DVDs to 1080p, and supports MPEG2, MPEG4-AVC and VC1 video formats. The Sony BDP-S300 can also play BD-ROM discs, CDs, and MP3 files and JPEG images recorded onto DVDs. The BDP-S300 also includes Sony's Bravia TheatreSync feature, which allows you to automatically connect the Blu-ray player to a Bravia HDTV and control them with the same remote.

Here's the player at Sony.com:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?sssdmh=dm11.0&catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=BDPS300&Dept=tvvideo&SR=sensory:shop:bdps300_bluray:ss

I can't tell if this unit will have DDPlus, TrueHD, and dtsHD. That could be a deal breaker for many of us here.

 

[Seth=L]

Hmm.......
I wonder if it has HDMI 1.3.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I saw this on MSNBC just an hour ago, and they claim they have the same guts as their top of the line model. It's just smaller. I'm wondering why they left out the DDPlus/dtsHD info on the feature page. I guess time will tell.

I also saw at the AVS forum Conns in Austin was advertising the HD A2 DVD HD player for $199. It was a print mistake, but a bunch of guys jumped on it anyhow. TigerDirect has the HD DVD player for $264 shipped right now.

I'm willing to be these players will come down to $149 for the HD DVD player and $299 for the Blu Ray by the holidays this year. They've had less than stellar sales, and are hurting to sell these units.

The format war is the best thing that could have happened to us A/V consumers. And I'm loving that Netflix and Blockbuster are carrying these titles in stock, and seem to be always available.

 

[j_garcia]

Multichannel analog outs? That will extend the time in which I need to purchase a new receiver.

 

[mouettus]

Multichannel analog outs? That will extend the time in which I need to purchase a new receiver.

You'll still need many cables though. You won't get TrueHD via HDMI. You'll need:

1. HDMI cable for hi-def image
2. 6 RCA cables for audio (1 for each channel)

Spaghetti anyone?

 

[Seth=L]

You'll still need many cables though. You won't get TrueHD via HDMI. You'll need:

1. HDMI cable for hi-def image
2. 6 RCA cables for audio (1 for each channel)

Spaghetti anyone?

You can get a form of TrueHD using a receiver that decodes high-rez multichannel LPCM via HDMI. The player decodes TrueHD and converts it to 192/24 multichannel LPCM. It would basically be the same process if you had a 1.3 HDMI enabled receiver with TrueHD decoding, only the conversion process would occur in the receiver instead of the player.

So no spaghetti.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

The beauty of this new technology is 1 cable in, 1 cable out. Plus, we'll be able to pick up HDMI 1.3 AVR's for under $400 this fall, and HD players for under $200. Patience, my friends.

 

[j_garcia]

I already have all the analog cables...just pull them off my 2900 (DVD-A/SACD), and my receiver doesn't have HDMI (TV does), which is why if it has m/c analog out it would be a no brainer for me. I am still pondering the HD-A2 or the HD-A20, but neither has m/c analog.

 

[mtrycrafts]

You'll still need many cables though. You won't get TrueHD via HDMI. You'll need:
2. 6 RCA cables for audio (1 for each channel)

Spaghetti anyone?

Yes, but for him, less expensive than a new receiver, for now.

 

[mtrycrafts]

.

I also saw at the AVS forum Conns in Austin was advertising the HD A2 DVD HD player for $199. It was a print mistake, but a bunch of guys jumped on it anyhow. TigerDirect has the HD DVD player for $264 shipped right now.

I'm willing to be these players will come down to $149 for the HD DVD player and $299 for the Blu Ray by the holidays this year. They've had less than stellar sales, and are hurting to sell these units.

The format war is the best thing that could have happened to us A/V consumers. And I'm loving that Netflix and Blockbuster are carrying these titles in stock, and seem to be always available.

The A2 is only 1080i

Isn't the PS3 with the 20G hard drive at $500?

 

[avaserfi]

The 20gig ps3 is no longer in production.

I bought my ps3 60gig on ebay brand new for 500 after shipping and with no tax though.